The UN review of Cuba’s awful human rights record just came out, and the communist Castro dictatorship is already proclaiming it has no intention of following any of the recommendations. Cuba, of course, has a long and well-documented record of human rights violations. However, none of that really matters to the Cuban regime or for that matter the UN, who just elected the Castro dictatorship to another term on the UN Human Rights Council.
Via Martí Noticias (my translation):
In Geneva, Havana says it won’t accept recommendations on human rights that ‘question constitutional order’
As expected, Havana stated this Friday that it will not accept the main recommendations made by the international democratic community in the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Cuba before the UN Human Rights Council.
“These are unacceptable for our country as they question the constitutional and legal order, endorsed by the overwhelming majority of the people. They are based on prejudices and seek ideological hegemony,” said Juan Antonio Quintanilla, the Cuban ambassador in Geneva.
According to the regime, “these recommendations are politically motivated” and “some of them are fabricated pretexts of the well-known policy of hostility and aggression against Cuba.”
During the UPR held this week, Cuba faced strong criticism for the situation of political prisoners, the death penalty, the new Penal Code, and the need to classify femicide as a crime and ratify the UN Human Rights Covenants.
Conversely, the world’s most violative regimes staunchly supported Havana’s policies.
“We can anticipate that a majority of recommendations will have the Cuban government’s support. These have been made on the basis of mutual respect and non-interference in internal affairs. Many of them are in the process of implementation or are part of Cuba’s priorities,” Quintanilla stated without specifying which recommendations.
This Friday, the Human Rights Council approved the report containing the 361 recommendations made to Cuba.
In the conclusions, the Universal Periodic Review working group pointed out that the Cuban government will need to respond in writing before March 2024.
The document clarifies that all conclusions and/or recommendations reflect the position of the presenting State and/or the State under review and should not be interpreted as endorsed by the Working Group as a whole.